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The Fender Super Bassman 300 thread

Hi all on Talkbass.....I'm a long time basschat member (also a long time talkbass lurker ;-D ).
Iv'e recently got myself a super bassman 300 second hand (so no warranty) it was working fine for a few weeks(sounds awesome)but it then started blowing the main fuse? checked all the usual (scorch marks, swollen caps etc) and it all seems fine ? the tubes were the original one's , thinking they could be worn?( although no orange or red faults) so i swapped them with a new matched set of JJ6550's ........since then(2 weeks)all has been fine ..so far!, except the Bias lights have never been right from when i got it to what the manual states? I think iv'e read all that can be read about the bias issues etc the 100 and 300 have had that i can find?
I turn it on to standby and the green lights roll left to right as normal, after a good warm up i switch it on then it flashes all green then solid green for a few secs then flashes again ( stays in this pattern ) .It very rarely stays solid Green? is this normal behavior as i can't find similar anywhere? to me it comes across as though it's constantly trying to bias?
Like most musicians (being broke) i'll struggle to outlay a few hundred bucks to send it to a fender dealer etc (a lot of hastle here in the UK).
so any advice would be greatly appreciated :-)
Cheers Guys(and gals)
 
Also the lights flash 1a1b1c a lot dimmer than the other 3 at times and vice verser?
I'm hoping its not the bias and many of you have experienced this as ok? I've had no other lights
Please remember that it has a 5 year transferable warranty, if the original purchaser signs over the original sales receipt to you. This is easy if they are local and have the receipt or you can talk the OP into going back to the retailer and getting a copy from them and signing it over. I bought mine from a stand up TB member who did that for me. Got my bias replaced free even though I was the second owner.
 
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I have the guys receipt he gave me when i got the amp .....But he originally purchased it preowned from a guitar shop ( is the receipt i have) so I'm not sure any warranty would cover this??
You can call Fender customer service and ask them if they can help you with what you have.

I had called them up because my amp was bought brand new and not used by a production company that had purchased the Super Bassman as a back up. It was NIB. Although they sold gear, they were not a authorized Fender dealer. I had to get the production company owner to send me his original sales receipt, even though I didn't have any issues with my amp, I wanted the piece of mind.

I made a comment to the Fender rep that they obviously made the amp and should honor their product regardless of original sales receipt. For gods sake at least warranty it from the manufacture date.
 
Please remember that it has a 5 year transferable warranty, if the original purchaser signs over the original sales receipt to you. This is easy if they are local and have the receipt or you can talk the OP into going back to the retailer and getting a copy from them and signing it over. I bought mine from a stand up TB member who did that for me. Got my bias replaced free even though I was the second owner.
I think the five year warranty only applies in the USA. Down here in New Zealand and Australia it is only one year.
 
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What about UK ? Where I'm based......Iv'e been told my amp was made 2015,I'll try and contact fender and see what's what, hopefully i might be able to get hold of a new bias chip/unit for not to much cost? The amp looks brand new ( well looked after) so I'm sure the fault is not miss use ,more product failure ( only a couple of years old)
 
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Please remember that it has a 5 year transferable warranty, if the original purchaser signs over the original sales receipt to you. This is easy if they are local and have the receipt or you can talk the OP into going back to the retailer and getting a copy from them and signing it over. I bought mine from a stand up TB member who did that for me. Got my bias replaced free even though I was the second owner.
I'm pretty sure the 5yr transferable warranty is U.S. only. In Australia, the warranty on these is 1 year and you can't transfer it. The U.K. might have different conditions also.
 
With the tube that he put in there.. i don't like it, the amp don't sound as lush as it did before.. i have not changed out the tube yet.. i am going to put another one in there next practice and then see how it sounds..
it's been my experience - and IIRC others on this thread as well - that the stock tubes supplied by Fender do a great job. I've not done any tube rolling, I'm quite happy with the stock tubes.